592 



BLENHEIM. 



Blenheim. French and Bavarians sustained in its neighbourhood 

 1 from the British and their allies, on the 13th day of 

 August 170+. The two contending armies were 

 composed of the best and bravest troops in the ser- 

 vice of their respective sovereigns, and were con- 

 ducted by the most distinguished generals of the 

 age. The French and Bavarians, amounting to 

 80,000, were commanded by Marshal Tallard and 

 the Elector of Bavaria ; and the confederates, nearly 

 equal in number, were led on by Prince Eugene and 

 the Duke of Marlborough. The French army was 

 posted, in a very advantageous manner, upon the 

 eminence of Hochstet ; their right being covered by 

 the Danube and the village of Blenheim, their left 

 by the village of Lubzengen and the wood of Schel- 

 lenberg, and their front by a large valley, which 

 extended nearly two leagues in length, and which 

 was intersected by several rivulets, hemmed in at 

 some places by banks extremely steep, and at others 

 flowing freely over a marshy plain. As this position 

 would soon, by daily fortifications, have been ren- 

 dered completely impregnable ; and, as the enemy 

 would thus have been able to lay waste the neigh- 

 bouring circle of Franconia, as well as to prevent the 

 confederates from procuring the necessary supplies 

 of forage and provisions, as it appeared from an in- 

 tercepted letter of Marshal Villeroy, that he was ad- 

 vancing to act in concert with the Elector of Bava- 

 ria, to ravage the country of Wirtemberg, and to 

 obstruct the communication of the allied army with 

 the Rhine ; and as the troops of the confederates 

 were in the highest spirits, in consequence of the 

 victory which they had recently gained at Schellen- 

 berg, and of their having been joined by a reinforce- 

 ment under Prince Eugene ; by these reasons the 

 Duke of Marlborough was induced to run some ha- 

 zard, in order to bring the enemy to a general en- 

 gagement, with the utmost possible expedition ; and 

 he adapted his plan of attack, with wonderful skill, 

 to meet the dispositions of the hostile army. 



The French and Bavarians were formed into two 

 distinct bodies. At the head of the plain, half a 

 mile from the marshy ground, through which the 

 confederates had to pass, 4-8 squadrons and 10 bat- 

 talions were drawn up under the command of Mar- 

 shal Tallard. Marshal de Marsin, a general of great 

 capacity and experience, with the rest of the French, 

 and the Elector of Bavaria, with his own troops, 

 were stationed upon the left, nearer to the woods, and 

 close upon one of the rivulet3 which flowed through 

 the valley. In the village of Blenheim, which stood 

 in the front of the right wing, and where it was ex- 

 pected that the allies would direct their principal ef- 

 fort, 28 battalions and 12 squadrons were posted 

 for the defence of '.he place, and for the purpose of 

 attacking the confederates in the rear, should their 

 left attempt to advance against Tallard. To be 

 ready to join these troops, if necessary, or to act as 

 a corps de reserve as exigencies might require, eight 

 more battalions were ordered to the village of Oberk- 

 law ; and a few others, at a little distance from 

 these, were stationed near to two mills, between 

 Oberklaw and Blenheim. 



On the right of the confederate army, Prince Eu- 

 gene, at the head of the Imperialists, advanced 



against the Bavarians, and the forces under Marsin ; B\ 

 while the Duke of Marlborough, with the British 

 and Dutch troops on the left, directed his attack 

 against Marshal Tallard. The Duke, being aware 

 of the French general's design to entice him across 

 the plain, and to receive him in front, while the 

 troops in Blenheim should fall upon his rear, ordered 

 a part of his division to make an attack upon that 

 village. This detachment, which consisted chiefly 

 of British troops, under Major General Wilkes, be- 

 gan the engagement at 10 o'clock, by making a most 

 gallant assault upon the village of Blenheim ; and, 

 though they failed in repeated attempts to dislodge 

 the enemy, they succeeded in taking such a position 

 in its front, as effectually blocked up the French 

 troops which were stationed in the place, and which 

 could only have come out in defile, through very 

 narrow passages. The Duke of Marlborough ha- 

 ving thus secured his rear from molestation, instantly 

 passed the rivulet, preceded by his cavalry ; ascend- 

 ed the hill in a firm compacted body, attacked the 

 enemy's right wing with the utmost vigour, and, in 

 a short time, compelled it to give way. The brave 

 Tallard repeatedly rallied his troops as they re- 

 tired, commanded ten battalions to fill up the inter- 

 vals of his cavalry, made a most determined effort to 

 regain his ground ; and, by the tremendous fire of his 

 infantry, succeeded, for a moment, in disordering 

 the line of the confederates, and obliging them to 

 recoil about 60 paces. But Marlborough, with the 

 utmost promptitude, ordered three battalions of the 

 troops of Zell to sustain his horse, renewed the 

 charge with redoubled ardour, completely routed 

 the cavalry of the French, and entirely cut to pieces 

 the 10 battalions of infantry, who had been sent to 

 their support, but who were now abandoned by 

 their retreat. Again did Tallard succeed in collect- 

 ing his broken cavalry, behind a few tents ; and re- 

 solved to make the attempt to draw off the troops 

 that were posted in the village of Blenheim. With 

 this view he dispatched an aid-de-camp to Marshal 

 Marsin on the left, directing him, with the troops at 

 Oberklaw, to face the confederates without delay, 

 in order to favour the retreat of the forces in Blen- 

 heim. Informed by that commander, that, instead 

 of being able to spare assistance, he could with 

 difficulty maintain his own ground ; Tallard was no 

 longer able to sustain the pressing assaults of the 

 victorious squadrons of Marlborough. His cavalry 

 were totally dispersed ; his soldiers thrown into the 

 utmost confusion and consternation ; and the misera- 

 ble fugitives driven into the Danube with dreadful 

 carnage. Tallard himself, endeavouring to the last 

 to rally 4iis disordered squadrons, was surrounded 

 at the village of Sonderen, and made prisoner, toge- 

 ther with many officers of distinction in his army. 



While these occurrences were passing on the left 

 of the confederate army, the Prince of Holsteenbeck, 

 in the centre, at the head of 10 battalions, passed 

 the rivulet, with undaunted resolution, to attack 

 Marshal Marsin at Oberklaw ; but, before he could 

 form his men on the other side, he was overpowered 

 by numbers, mortally wounded, and taken prisoner. 

 His division, however, supported by some Danish 

 and Hanoverian cavalry, renewed the charge; bu'. 



